We all make bad choices, do things we don't feel so good about afterward.

It doesn't mean we're bad people, just that we made mistakes,

sometimes costly ones, ones that hurt other people, or even set us down the wrong path ourselves.

But whether we label it a mistake, a slip-up, or a transgression, we always end up in the same place, with regret.

You know the feeling. It's not a good one. In fact, it can be so painful sometimes that many people want to avoid it altogether.

Live by the slogan, no regrets. You know, Yolo.

You only live once.

Avert your gaze and just move forward.

But where does the idea that regret is bad come from?

And is it even right?

I think it's a terrible idea.

It is not an effective recipe for living a satisfying life.

That's best-selling author Daniel Pink, and he would know.

He wrote the book on regret, literally.

His book is actually called The Power of Regret,

and in it he says most of our ideas about this emotion are wrong,

both in terms of what causes regret and how we should deal with it.

I think it comes from Americans in particular being fed a bill of goods, which is that the path to a life well lived is to always be positive and never be negative, to always look forward and never look back. And it's one of those cases where generally good advice has been taken too far. On this episode, we'll talk to

Dan about what his database of 23,000 regrets has taught him regarding this often misunderstood emotion.

The idea that you should never look backward is foolish, because regret is an emotion that

when we treat it right is powerful in helping us make progress in the future.

And we'll hear from world-renowned Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg about how the practice

...